Perhaps the highlight of our trip to Japan was the time spent in the mountains near Nagano at the Nobeyama Cyclocross race. Nobeyama is Japan's largest cross event and part of the Rapha Super Series. It draws the best racers from all over the country and many internationals like top U.S. riders Tim Johnson and Zach McDonald. It was not only one of the best run races that I've attended but also the muddiest by far. Check the photos, it was nuts.

It's time to finally start sharing images from the trip to Japan that Saisha, Adam, and I took in late November / Early December. For all of us it was an amazing experience and one that will stay with us forever. The people were spectacular, our distributor Motocross Intl. took great care of us, and the shops we visited were just insane. Easily some of the best and certainly most ambitious that I've ever set foot in. These people do not mess around when it comes to the details and customization.

So it's two weeks till Christmas and you don't have jack to give your favorite cousin on your mom's side. Well fret not little one, ol' All-City is here to help you out with some great gift ideas if it just so happens to be the case that your favorite cousin on your mother's side would be into some All-City branded items.

Party People Of Earth,
Saisha, Adam, and Myself are heading off to Japan until December 6th. We're heading to the Nobeyama Cyclocross race, visiting our dealers, and supporting our distributor, Motocross Intl.

This past weekend the Minnesota State Cross Championships took place in Crystal Minnesota. It was a surprisingly balmy 30 degrees out, which made for some nice muddy action. In a classic blunder I got up early in order to make my 10am race time and drove out there only to realize that I'd forgotten my shoes. So dumb, but at least I didn't forget my camera.

From our first engineer, Adam, who gave us the Nature Boy, Big Block, Def Wish, and Mr. Pink. To our beloved Anna Schwinn who pushed the blue print and ideals ever further with the Space Horse, Macho King, Thunderdome, and JYD. It's pretty safe to say that we've been blessed with some serious engineering chops

So I just got back from Jingle Cross, the biggest cross race in the Midwest. It was three days of freezing our fingers and hands, racing our butts off, and cheering our hearts out for our friends and the pros. Minneapolis was rolling deep with our own tent city, sweet heater setup, and plenty of camaraderie. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the weekend.

Hey there kids, if you're going to Jingle Cross, make sure you swing by the All-City tent and say hello. The AC X Fulton team and Koochella will be out in force and partying our brains out all weekend long.

Our local velodrome hosted Velo CX this past weekend. Here are a few snaps of what went down. Since I've been shooting most weekends and am starting to get bored, this week we've gone with dramatic black and white. Dig it.

Friends,
When I started at All-City four years ago, the brand was a cheeky little single speed brand. I was stoked on the product and the market it served and was super excited for the potential of everything about it.

Greeeeeeen Acres! It's probably our biggest, coolest local race. Sited on a tubing hill just east of St. Paul, it's close for spectators from the Twin Cities and a short drive to Wisconsin border for beer on Sunday on the off chance we'd run out. Thanks to our fantastic event organizer, there was no chance of that.

Sometimes things get lost in the shuffle, awesome things. Like the photos from the Bandit Cross in Puerto Rico we were fortunate enough to take part in during Fijate.
I use the term Bandit Cross, and it is, being unsanctioned and all. However unlike the states, it's not an alternative to anything. Sanctioned cross racing doesn't exist in P.R. (at least that's my understanding), so all of the events in this nascent scene are somewhat outlaw.

Last night was the Second Annual All Hallows Night Cross. Last year had been rainy and cold. I think nearly everyone crashed on the way to the course. Megaphones and jerky hand-ups. All kinds of dumb costumes.

We wanted to take the opportunity to remind you of some info that will help ensure the longevity and success of the wheels on your Macho King. These wheels are unique in the All-City lineup as they were intended as racing wheels.

We're about halfway through the Minnesota Cross Season and I've been doing my best to shoot at all the races. Here are some selections from the past month or so. Some of these are favorites because they showcase All-City stuff, and some are favorites because I just think they're pretty decent photos. Let's go.

Once more I am hosting (under my Bike Jerks imprint) Track or Treat. Minneapolis' only fixed gear only alleycat. This is the eighth year and promises to be absolutely nuts as it takes place on Halloween night with all downtown stops. If you're in town, make sure you show up.

We've been sitting on these images for a while now. At first they were slated for Paved magazine, but after that entity folded, Urban Velo picked up Stevil's article about the Bandit Cross phenomenon. These were shot by the ever talented Kelly MacWilliams in 2012 at the Minnehaha Bandit Cross Course.

Hola,
Music Appreciation was a semi-regular post that I used to put out on Wednesdays, and I want to bring it back. It gets tiring speaking of nothing but bikes all the time, when there are so many more facets of the good-life to bring to the forefront. Chief among those are sweet jamz. So here we go with something you should know about.

The set up: we have an Instagram account. While you, loyal viewer, may think we set it up just for your enjoyment, we also use it to check out how people are riding our bikes and using our stuff. Enter: Young Ryan Young.

Anna has been on us for years now about how we don't have "real" track rings. What she meant by this was not that our 144bcd 612 Track Rings were intangible, false or fiction, but that we didn't offer them in the larger sizes that velodrome racing requires. To remedy this situation, rather than just produce larger sizes of our existing rings, we did the totally reasonable and financially sound thing and turned her loose to design the ring of her dreams.

In an unprecedented move for All-City, we're actually really going out on the road for an extended Demo Tour next month. Adam will be cruising around his old East Coast stomping grounds bringing the party to our partner ships and giving you a chance to hang out and ride a whole bunch of All-City's. If you're not familiar with the latest addition to our team, Adam's the one with the bedroom eyes and mature outlook on life.

We've been in a freeze while the new website was in the finishing stages, and in that time we've had a bunch of rad new softgoods come into stock. So here now is a blast with all the info you need on what's the good look from AC.

As many of you know some extremely inappropriate behavior happened at Cross Vegas this year. You'll forgive me if I don't rehash it or the internet drama that followed, but suffice to say that some people screwed up and a lot of people got upset which has lead to many discussions concerning the practice of heckling and etiquette within the American cross scene.

All-City is currenlty seeking a qualified person to take over the Product Management side of our operation. If you think you have the skills and experience, head over to QBP.com Careers tab and check out the posting.

Last Friday, Jeff treated us to a Bandit Cross: Night Moves race in the Minnehaha dog park. What I appreciated about last Friday (and local Night Cross races also) aside from the absolutely perfect weather was that the crowd was local. Don’t get me wrong… I love out of town guests. We roll out The Good Party when you all visit, we do. But it’s been an extremely guest-heavy summer and it was nice to hang with Minneapolis’ Finest in the middle of the woods during the brief lull between All-City Championships and NACCCs (which starts tomorrow… oh god it starts tomorrow).

Yep, we've got a new t-shirt and it might just be the best one yet. The photo comes from a shoot that Saisha did in January of this year for booth graphics for our Frostbike booth. Paul, the photographer, killed it and so, in addition to the cover of the new Annual, we're using it for a sweet shirt.

Early this month I headed up to Copper Harbor Michigan and Single Speed USA. The day after the event we were burnt on bike activities and decided to pursue an urban legend we had heard regarding an abandoned Air Force base. After doing some googling and driving around on back roads for a few hours we found it. Here is the photo graphic evidence.

Unable to participate myself on account of concussions being stupid, I went up with All-City Rider and Bad Food-Themed Tattoo Aficionado, Erin Young to take some pictures of State Championship Match Sprints last night.

I realized that I've been doing a poor job this summer of more personal blog posts, not that you're all on pins and needles or anything wondering what exactly Jeffy has been doing with his summer, but it's always fun for us to share what it is we do in our personal (non AC) lives, so you can get to know us and thus some of the reasons we do what we do and make what we make. We'll confine this post to the last few weeks, post our 2015 street launch at Saddle Drive.

We’ve been working intensely on cross product and the JYD lately, so I was beyond stoked when All-City Global Product Manager Amy “The Hammer” Kippley gave me a track chainring to design. Images of track bags full of All-City chainrings danced in my head.

Another year has come and gone for All-City's namesake alley cat, the All City Championships. This is my ninth year throwing the event and it just keeps on getting better. We had massive turnouts for Bandit Cross (70 racers, most ever), a men's and women's field at the track crit, and despite the rain 125 races for the main race. I'm proud to mention that the Thunderdome swept both the men's and ladies crits, and the top two spots for the men's in the alley cat.

As you know, every year I organize the brand's namesake race, the All City Championship. This year's event is rapidly approaching next week, so I wanted to make sure if you're in MPLS, you get your butt out there.

On my way out to Colorado, one of the must see's on my list was Monkey Wrench Cycles in Lincoln, Nebraska. For years we've been told tales of grandeur regarding this shop and their awesome collection of bikes and cycling ephemera. It did not disappoint.

Well, you all knew this was coming if you've been paying attention to our Facebook, Instagram or Flickr. (If you didn't know it was coming and you want to know about such things, you should pay attention to our Facebook, Instagram and Flickr) This is the JYD...

Hi ya party people. Just wanted to let you know that we will be heading out on the road for a while to ride bikes and hang out with you. First stop is Thursday night in Omaha for a party with Greenstreet, followed by a Saturday event with Pearl Velo in Denver.

Last night was the second week of racing at the NSC Velodrome this season, and the second week of crushing for Team Koochella. Marty Wood, talented photographer and friend of the show, came along to take some photos.

Saturday of Fijate was the main event, the track bike crit. Track bike crit racing is huge in P.R. as they have races every month. The Fijate event is the biggest of the year and it brought out professionals, and even allegations of doping.

If you’re in the Twin Cities this Thursday (May 22nd), come on up to Blaine for opening night at the NSC Velodrome. Fulton beer will be on tap (proceeds benefiting the NSC Velodrome). Men and women will be turning themselves inside-out for glory and silly prizes. Most importantly: it is the debut of my all-women's track team, Koochella.

The day after the Dirty Hundo we met at Golden Saddle for a nice jaunt up to the "blacktop" in Griffith Park to watch the sunset and chill out with a few beers. Here are a few favorite images from the ride.

Because we over at All-City are well rounded individuals with a multitude of interests and pursuits, today instead of some bike thing, we suggest you take some time and check out this skateboarding insanity.

Last weekend I headed to Los Angeles to meetup with the crew from Golden Saddle Cyclery and Mudfoot for the second running of Mudfoot's spring century ride. This time called the Mudfoot Dirty Hundo. Joining on this trip were the crew from Angry Catfish here in Minneapolis, and my teammates for the ride, Garrett Davis and Joe Meiser, two of the homies from QBP.

Most of you are aware of the existence of the Macho King and Nature Boy Disc cross bikes that we launched last month at Frostbike. So far the reaction we've recieved has been amazing, even though until now we haven't really done a formal announcement on our site. So let's fix that.

Sorry for the massive delay between posts. I wrote this post, accidentally deleted it, and then a big pile of deadlines got in the way. Had to work on team stuff. Excuses, excuses. But I think you'll find that this installment is well worth the wait because of: New Sales Guy Adam-Enhanced Photography!

Sometimes it's about the bike, but other times you leave the bike at home. This past weekend's excursion to my buddy Josh's cabin for our annual sledding trip was one of those times. We had a limited amount of time to get snockered, play with dogs, and get loose on the hills above his family's land. Bikes were unnecessary.

As you may have noticed, after Frostbike John Watson and Kyle Kelley stayed on for a few days to play in the ice and snow. On one of the days we took a trek up to the shores of Lake Superior to visit the Apostle Islands National Lake Shore Sea Caves. Check out John's Photos from the day.

As some of you may know, this weekend is Frostbike, QBP's annual open house and tradeshow. It's also when we unveil our latest cross creations to the world. Here are a few teaser pics, but tune in tomorrow to Prolly Is Not Probably for the whole reveal.

I’ve been kicking around All-City for three years and some months now. Jeff wrote my initial profile for the website:
Yeah, Anna Schwinn.
She's a native 'Sconnie, races track, runs her mouth, loves beer and karaoke.

You've seen the portraits, now here are some favorite bike shots from last weekend. Of course it's heavy on All-Citys because why wouldn't we take pictures of them. They're our babies, and seeing them out in the world does our hearts good.

We got some nice feedback on my last Design Process blog entry on the upcoming All-City seat collar, a part that I said “most people will never think twice about.” Let’s see how cool you think this next one is- a part we developed that I guarantee most people will never even think once about because it was specifically designed to be as minimal and as forgettable as possible: The Double-Guide.

Hey there, if you were anywhere else this past weekend besides Minneapolis, you missed out on another amazing edition of the Stupor Bowl (now in it's 17th year). But fear not, you can catch up on the action all week via the AC blog. Here then is an opening salvo of images for you to tuck into.

Sometimes, a project goes on for way too long. This can happen because of performance issues, or tooling issues, etc. Sometimes, though, it takes too long because the All-City team, a passionate and opinionated group of people, agonizes over how pretty it is. And sometimes, this agony is over a part of a frame that most people will never think twice about. Enter: The All-City Seat Collar

It's that season when we begin to ready ourselves for the next model year, which for us begins at the end of June. As I am the acting Sales Manager, one of my duties is to set the pricing for the upcoming year, an excercise which always causes me to ask one simple question...

A few weeks ago, the community gathered to celebrate at the Funkadelic End of Year Party at Sunrise Cycles. The invite said we would “party until sunrise...” … a threat I should have taken more seriously at the outset of the party.

This fall I raced more cyclocross races than ever before, it was the first year of the All-City X Fulton team, and I ended up doing four Bandit Cross' and ten "official" cross races.
I'd like to say that I had fun and loved racing, but the truth is, I sort of ruined it for myself like I always do.